Butterflies and Battleships
by thegirlwiththedragontattoo
Summary: Katniss' life is wonderful. Sure, being 1st mate on the most feared pirate ship in the world has its downsides, but it also has many benefits. Her life is simple, until she starts to fall for the ships hostage, Peeta, 1st mate of an enemy ship. Caught in an epic fight between her head and her heart, when it all comes down to one final battle, will Katniss make the right decision?
1. Chapter 1

The sun was setting over the Atlantic Ocean, the crystal water glittering in the orange light. A solitary ship was docked in the huge bay. No-one dared to go near that ship for fear of being kidnapped, slaughtered or something even worse by the feared Captain Hawthorne and his crew. The sea itself seemed to cower at his prescence. Men would hide away their wives and children whenever he was in town for fear of them being abducted. No woman could ever stand in the prescence of Captain Hawthorne and not collapse out of fear. Except one; Katniss Everdeen, the most fearless female pirate to ever sail the seven seas.

Today was the most formidable day in Katniss' life so far, the day they started the quest. However, this was no ordinary quest. This was the day that she and the rest of the crew aboard the Mockingjay set of in search for the lost treasure of Atlantis. Katniss leant against the rigging and smiled to herself, the salty spray catching in her hair. She loved being 1st mate on the ship of the famous Captain Hawthorne almost as much as she would have loved being Captain herself. Unlike other women of her time, she was free to live however she wanted. Having no real family, she had no expectations about what she was going to do with her life. Her life was a blank page, ready for her to start writing how and when she chooses.

"Mornin' miss" said the ships lookout, Marvel, as he brushed past her and started to climb the rigging. She nodded in return. Jumping off the platform, she walked swiftly along the deck and headed straight towards the Captain's quarters to wake him.


	2. Chapter 2

Katniss knew before she even saw Captain Hawthorne that he was already awake. She heard the dramatic meloncholy sound of an organ and sighed to herself. The Captain only played the organ when he has trouble sleeping. He was facing away from her, his whole body swaying to the rythm of the tune he was playing.

'Captain' said Katniss loudly.

Captain Hawthorn, deafened by the sound of the organ, carried on playing and ignored Katniss completely.

'Captain.' She sounded more harsh this time, almost frustrated.

Still there was no response.

'CAPTAIN GALE HAWTHORNE!' Katniss shouted at the top of her lungs.

The sound of the organ stopped and the Captain spun around.

'Everdeen!' He remarked, his grey eyes glistening.

'What's the matter this time?' She said, getting straight to the point.

'I'm perfectly fine! Right as rain and all that crap. As fine-ity fine as a fiddle!' He danced round the room, picked up a bottle of rum and swigged from it.

Katniss grabbed the bottle from his hands.' 'It's far too early in the morning to be drinking' she said strictly. 'And if you're fine, then why were you up all night worrying about something?'

He stood still and his eyes darted towards the floor, like a child getting told off at school.

'I've just got one of those feelings, Katnip.' he said, using Katniss' pirate name. 'You know who's crew are also trying to find the lost treasure of Atlantis, don't you?'

She shook her head.

'Captin Odair and his crew. They set off from Tortuga at sunrise this morning.'

'They wouldn't dare touch us if they got near, Cap'n, not with your hideous reputation!' Katniss chuckled and put on the Captain's coat for him.

On deck, the warning bell sounded. The doors of the Captain's suite burst open, and in rushed Thresh with a panicked look on his face.

'I don't mean to alarm you, Cap'n, but we're under attack from another ship. The Princess Annie.'

The three of them ran out on deck to be greeted by a cannonball narrowly missing Katniss' head and plumeting straight through one of the sails. It made a singed circle shape in the sail before a small plop-ing sound could be heard as it disappeared into the sea the other side.

Standing at the front of the attacking ship was a young-ish looking man with stunning sea-green eyes and bronze hair glimmering in the sunlight. He was carrying a trident and his skin was very tanned.

There was no mistaking who this man was: Captain Finnick Odair.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N - sorry about how slow i have been updating! Been really busy later but i promise i will update more regularly in the future. Also, sorry the chapters are so short. Trust me, I'm trying to make them longer :3 Special shoutout to the amazing MrsRuthMellark who has just started her first fanfic! Reviews are always much appriciated xoxox_

'Miss me?' said Captain Odair, his green eyes sparkling.

'Not even a bit.' Gale snidely retorted.

The captain of the enemy ship swung on a loose rope and landed with a thud on the deck of The Mockingjay.

Katniss gasped. For the first time in 7 years, the ship was under attack. 7 years ago, Katniss was only 9 so couldn't actually remember very much. Only the fear she felt running through her veins with every fatal scream. But this time she wasn't scared; she was ready.

The distinct sound of two swords clashing together made Katniss jump. She was high with adrenelin, and it felt great. Feeling someone approaching behind, she spun around and stabbed him in the chest, killing him instantly. She dashed across the deck and onto a barrel. Looking around, she grinned at the fact she had made the first kill. She sensed someone swiping at her legs and jumped just in time. She jumped again, this time managing to grab onto the rigging and pull herself up, avoiding another swipe. She dropped down to face her opponent.

Katniss effortlessly blocked every move and her opponent attempted to block her fearless stabs as she forced him slowly down the plank. They stopped. He looked around, scared, and Katniss nudged him into the cold, deep sea below with the tip of her handcrafted sword.

She turned around feeling very pleased with herself only to find herself confronted with another enemy pirate. She readied herself to slash her sword across his head of perfect bonde hair. Then she did something which went against every priate fighting rule she had ever learnt. She hesitated. The blonde haired boy quickly knocked her round the head with the flat of his blade.

The sudden shooting pain in her head caused her to fall to the ground. The edges of her vision started to blur. The last thing she remembered was staring into the hypnotising crystal blue eyes of her attacker, then her vision blackened.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/n - this chapter is the longest yet! The last bit was hard to put into words but i think i just about did it in the end :3 please read and review with any ideas to help me make the next chapter even better :)**_

Katniss awoke in the familiar surroundings of the Captins Cabin. She held her still pounding head and sat up.

'Glad to see you're finally awake, I was starting to get worried.' Gale said, holding a wet flanel to her head.

'How long was I out for?' Katniss asked, slightly dazed.

'Just a couple of days.'

_A couple of days?! Then she remembered._

'The battle, who won?'

The Captain chuckled. 'I'd hardly call it a battle, Katnip. We completely slaughtered them and they surrendered and ran away. Call themselves a sea-worthy crew, more like a bunch of cowards!'

'Which way did they sail?'

Gale thought for a moment. 'East I think.'

Realisation dawned on Katniss. _They weren't giving up. This was merely the beginning, a taster of something much bigger that is yet to come._

'They weren't running away, Cap'n' she said sternly. 'They were trying to get a head start on us. They attacked our ship to damage it, not defeat us. They wanted to slow us down so they could get to Atlantis and find the lost treasure before we did!'

The Captain's expression darkened. 'If what you say is true, then we better hurry up and finish reparing the boat before it's too late to catch them up.'

'It's no good,' Katniss sighed, 'even if we repared the ship in record time they'd still be about a week ahead of us. We have no chance.'

'Well then,' Gale smiled. 'We better use the hostage to our advantage.'

_Hostage? _Katniss really had missed a lot in the few days she'd been unconscious.

The Captain placed the flanel on the make-shift drying rack Katniss had made for him and moved it to beside the open window.

'Speaking of the hostage,' he said, picking up a burnt loaf of bread, 'it's time for his lunch.'

Katniss followed the Captain onto deck then down the ladder below to the store. Katniss hadn't been to the store for years, she had no need to. As 1st mate, she rarely had to go below deck, only to occasionally fetch some rum or food for the Captain. It had obviously not been cleaned for years either; even the cobwebs that covered every wall were about an inch thick in dust. The room was dingy and eerily silent, except from the occasional shuffle of some unknown creature moving between the barrels.

Slumped in a corner was a blonde haired boy of about Katniss' age covered in cuts and bruises, chained to the wall by his ankles. The handed her the bread and nudged her forward. Cautiously, she made her way over to the corner and tossed the bread to the hunched figure. He looked up, and Katniss found herself staring into those same crystal blue eyes. She gasped and took a step back, knocking her head on a hanging lantern. She held her head and stared at the boy, this time taking in more than just his eyes. His tousled blonde hair was a lot scruffier than before, yet Katniss thought this suited him better. She followed his stunning cheekbones down the almost perfect line of his jaw to where his lips were.

Katniss looked away. _This is wrong. What am I doing? Why am I thinking about his lips?_

Unable to stand in his presence much longer, she turned away and stormed past Gale, up the ladder and onto the deck.

'Katnip, are you-'

'Okay? Yes Captain, I'm fine. Just leave me alone, yeah?' She said, striding off.

_I have to stay away from the hostage_ she thought _he's the enemy. _She closed her eyelids and tried to block the image of his beautiful blue eyes out of her mind.

Gale and Cato looked at eachother. Gale shrugged.

'Teenagers.'


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N - wasn't quite sure what to do with this chapter, so i thought i might add a flashback scene just for the sheer hell of it. I will pre warn you that it gets a bit depressing, i almost cried writing it. Tell me what you think! Also, huuugge shout out to NotJustAPieceInTheirGames who has just written an awesome HG one shot! xox please read and review_

**Katniss laughed as her sister Prim ran into the room dressed in her new outfit that she got for her birthday, her shirt untucked and scruffy.**

**"You're gonna want to tuck in your tail, little duck.' Said Katniss, jokingly. Prim stuck her tongue out at her little sister, tucked in the back of her shirt, and ran into the garden to show her parents how well her new Sunday clothes fitted.**

**Katniss' parents had bought both her and her sister new clothes as they do every Easter, and Katniss had yet to see hers. She turned the corner and into her bedroom. Sure enough, lying smoothed out on the bed was a plain blue dress and brown suede shoes.**

**She had only just tied the ribon in a bow round her waist when Prim ran into the room crying.**

**'They're not there! They've been Snatched!' Tears exploded from her hazel eyes. Snatching was very rare, but not unheard of. It was a kind of adult kidnapping usually done by pirates, ending in the death of the victim usually by starvation, strangulation or suffocation.**

**Katniss squeezed her into a hug. 'It's okay, Prim. I'm sure they've just gone for a walk or something.'**

**They waited and waited but Mr and Mrs Everdeen never came back.**

**3 whole years later they were found tied underwater to Docklake pier. Katniss was called in to the police station to identify the bodies as her parents', and when she saw them her eyes swelled up with tears. She wiped them away and noticed something shiny on her mother's dress. It was her good luck Mockingjay pin that she had got in the market some time ago. Katniss unpined the Mockingjay pin from her mother and pinned it onto her own dress, trying not to cry as she did so.**

'Calmed down from yesterday evening, yet?' Captain Hawthorne said from across the room.

'Gale!' Katniss shouted 'Stop sneaking into my room like that!'

The Captain chuckled 'I'll take that as a no.' Katniss huffed and turned over.

'Sometimes I wish your parents were here to deal with you when you were in teenager-mode.' Anger surged through Katniss' body. She pulled the dagger out of her belt, turned back round and flung it across the room to where Gale was sat. It spun past him, narrowly missing his chest, and plunged onto the table.

'Well done, you just killed a placemat!' Gale said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

She turned over once more and tried to get back to sleep. However, the more she tried to block everything out of her mind, the more her mind was filled with images of the blue eyed boy. Katniss groaned and bashed her head on the pillow a few times, attempting to knock the thoughts out of her head. But she couldn't.

She had to go and see him on more time. She had to talk to him, she had to find out more. Everything about him was so intriguing.

Seeing it was still dark outside, she grabbed an oil lamp, threw on her battered suede shoes and tiptoed out of her cabin door. So she didn't wake the others, she silently crept along the deck and down the ladder to where the boy was being held hostage.

She was going to speak to him. She had to hear what his voice sounded like. She had to know his name.

_Oh dear. _Thought Katniss._ I think I might be falling in love with the enemy and I don't even know his name._


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey all, thanks for reading! I need some public opinion on the following; do I make them have a sectret relationship on the ship or do i make them realise the feeling is mutual in the final battle to make it more dramatic (last chapter)? Should I make Gale into almost a father-like figure to Katniss or do I make him hit on her and be a general asshole? Should I put a bit in Peeta's POV and should i do another flash back? I need YOUR help, having major writers block! If you review with a particularly good piece of advice, I'll shout you out in my next authors note! Sorry for the slow delay between updates, my mum's making me study like 24/7 D':**

The cellar was pitch black and Katniss waved her oil lamp in every direction trying to find her way safely across the hazardous room to where the blue-eyed boy was. Her oil lamp was so dim she had to rely mainly on feeling the objects around her to reach him. Stubbing her toe on an unidentified wooden object, Katniss cursed under her breath. The sudden breaking of the deathly silence disturbed some mice from their peaceful sleep, causing them to scuttle, unsettled around the rarely cleaned cellar floor.

Feeling warm, human skin, Katniss stopped abruptly. The steady, slow sound of the boy breathing told her that he was asleep. I Not for long I she thought to herself. She grabbed a mug of water that sat beside him and poured the water out all over his blonde mop of hair.

The boy woke with a start, and stared at Katniss, his blue eyes sparkling wildly.

'What do you want with me?' He said sounding scared. Katniss grinned. She loved to have that effect on people.

'Nufin.' She said, taking a seat on the grimy flooded directly opposite the boy. Looking slightly taken aback, he thoughtfully offered Katniss the left overs of his burnt piece of bread.

'Nah, yer alright.' Said Katniss. Sensing an upcoming awkward silence, Katniss started talking to the boy. 'What's your name?' She said.

'Why do you need to know?' He replied grumpily.

Ooh, feisty. 'Well, for no reason other than so I can stop referring to you as "the boy" in my head.'

'Do you really think about me that often that you feel you need to know my name?'

Katniss scowled and said nothing. _Geez, he's_ annoying, she thought, staring at his tattered clothes.

'Lets play a game.' Said Katniss. 'I'ts one I used to play with my parents. We called it "real or not real". Basically you say something about the other person and then they say whether I'ts real or not. Seeing as you're not actually answering any of my questions, we can play so I can find out more about you.'

'Fine, whatever.' He replied.

'You left me unconcious for a couple of days, real or not real?'

'Real. You burnt this bread,' he gestured to the bread that she had tossed him earlier that day. 'Real or not real?'

'Not real,' she smirked. ' That was Ga- Captain Hawthorne.'

'Not much of a baker, is he?' The boy chuckled.

_Even his laugh is perfect._ Thought Katniss.

The boy fell silentand stared at her._ Oh shit, _she thought. _Did I just say that out loud?_

'Captain Odair's ship is also headed for Atlantis, real or not real?'

The boy hesitated, then sighed. 'Real.' He hummed quietly to himself whilst he tried to think of one for Katniss.

'Captain Hawthorne doesn't know you're down here, real or not real?'

Katniss grinned. 'Real. You want me to come back here the same time tomorrow, real or not real?'

The boy smiled back. 'Real.'


	7. Chapter 7

Katniss smiled; she had herself a kind of date.

The red sunrise illuminated the entirety of the large pirate ship as Katniss re-emerged on deck. Gale was already up. He was stood at the far edge of the ship with a wooden telescope to his right eye, looking out across the still, royal-blue canvas of sea. Katniss snuck to her suite, hoping no one had seen where she had come from, and closed the door swiftly behind her. Looking around the room for something to occupy herself with, she spotted a note placed under a glass paperweight, the edges fluttering gracefully in the wind of the open window. She strode over to the window, moved the paperweight and held the note close to her face in attempt to read the scrawled handwriting:

_hey sweetheart_

_More boy trouble? I saw you last night go down to where the hostage is held. _

Katniss' heart stopped.

_Be careful. I myself see no problem in it. It's not as if he likes you back, you've got about as much charm as a dead slug._

Katniss scowled.

_Alright, I'll make you a deal. You don't interfere with my drinking and I won't tell the Captain you're sneaking around behind his back with the first mate of an enemy _ship.

First mate?

And_ if you ever decide to make it public (which I wouldn't if I were you), then you'd have to except the fact of your inevitable death, then have a drink._

_And, Miss Everdeen, the boy's name is Peeta Mellark. I doubt he would have let that slip, he doesn't trust you. Just because I think you have a good heart, here's some advice. Stay alive._

_Haymitch A._

**Peeta's POV**

I wish they'd loosen these stupid chains, then I could actually scratch the itch on my leg without almost amputating my hand. I can't believe I didn't just kill her when she hesitated, then I wouldn't be tied up down here - EEEK, what he hell was that?! ... something brushed my arm... Probably another rat. I just couldn't kill her, and if I had the chance again, I still don't think I could. There's something about her, she's different from the other girls I've met. She's incredible with a sword, yet so gentle and caring. She has the most beautiful face I've ever seen, yet she's the enemy. I shouldn't be falling in love with her. Aaaahhh. I doubt she even likes me, she probably came to see me to take the mick and laugh in my face. What am I even thinking, of course she couldn't like me.

I'm so thirsty and not thinking straight, that's all. Finnick will come and rescue me, of course he will. Until then, I've just got to stay strong, and not let them crack me. Especially not the girl, Katniss. The whole of this crew are playing with me, playing with my mind. Well, I'm more than just a piece in their games. I'm Peeta Mellark, and I will never ever let the enemy first mate occupy my thoughts or play with my mind again.

But I have a date with her tonight. Oh, what am I doing? Maybe I should just act cool, and not let her know how much she affects me. Maybe I should ignore her and tell her I never want to see her again. But now I've set eyes on her, I doubt I would be able to live another day without seeing her beautiful face.

If there is a God up there, please help me. Give me a sign or something to guide me in the right direction. For if I do not die down here of malnutrition or physical abuse, I am sure to go mad trying to figure out what to do about Katniss Everdeen.

**_It's my 6th birthday. I'm playing pass the parcel with my primary school friends, the music stops. I have the parcel so I open it. It's the last round and inside the wrapping is a batman action figure. I wish I could freeze this moment and live in it forever. Everyone is happy._**

**_The next day the pirate raids begin. People are snatched from their homes and slaughtered in the cruelist of ways. Children running round looking for their parents and crying when they could not be found. Two girls dressed in pretty dresses knock at our door and ask if we've seen theirs. We say no. The brown haired girl in the blue dress looks at me with tears swelling up in her beautiful eyes. _**

**_That was the day that Peeta first layed eyes on Katniss Everdeen, and it it was a day that he never forgot._**

**A/N- please review with ideas and feedback! Thanks if you have already, keep them rolling in! :) x**


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